SCHWEBEL BAKING COMPANY Taking pride in quality

It's only right that after a century in business, the company might have learned a trick or two.
By MARY ELLEN PELLEGRINI
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- You may not realize it but every time you dine on a sandwich from an Ohio Burger King or the concession stand at an Ohio State game, you're enjoying a food product that's deeply rooted in the Mahoning Valley.
The Schwebel Baking Company on East Midlothian Boulevard in Youngstown, now celebrating 100 years, is the sole supplier of bread products for both institutions. At its state-of-the-art baking facility in Hebron, near Columbus, Schwebel's produces buns for all the Burger King restaurants in Ohio. The company is also the official bread and bun maker for Ohio State University.
A long-standing tradition of excellence in baking has generated demand for Schwebel products and garnered numerous national awards including several for its bun products created at the Hebron bakery.
"We take a lot of pride in our quality so consumers feel good about buying Schwebel's bread," said Lee Schwebel, director of corporate communications. "The work really is a labor of love."
The company's high standards and personal attention to detail is reflected in every aspect of the baking process. "We make very key choices in terms of ingredients that we select. We're testing those products as they come in," Schwebel said.
It's the staff
Schwebel Baking Company also employs highly trained, experienced bakers, a number of whom received certification from the American Institute of Baking in Manhattan, Kan. Schwebel said company employees average 10 years of tenure with the bakery, more than double the national average.
Although pan bread and bun lines are now fully automated, the baking process developed by founders Dora and Joseph Schwebel in 1906 remains the same, Schwebel said.
A loaf of pan bread still takes eight hours to make. However, because of technology, "human hands don't touch the [pan] bread," said Schwebel. The original hearth breads, which have to ferment overnight and are still made by hand, take 28 hours.
In the bakery's early days, men hoisted huge sacks of flour into mixers to begin the bread formation. Today, four silos inside the Midlothian Avenue facility, each holding 150,000 pounds of flour, pump the ingredient into the mixers. Schwebel's four baking facilities combined - the others are in Hebron, Cuyahoga Falls and Solon - use 1.9 million pounds of flour weekly.
Attention to detail
From the initial step of mixing flour, water and yeast in a "sponge and dough" process to the final stages of baking in the oven and cooling down on conveyer belts, each Schwebel bread product follows a very scientific, intricate procedure where humidity level, moisture content, time and temperature are preciously monitored. "Any loaf that would come out [of the oven] too dark is not acceptable," said Schwebel.
Pan breads must remain in the proof box, where breads rise for the second time, exactly 58 minutes. The average internal temperature is 204 degrees when bread comes out of the oven. It then cools down to 98 or 103 degrees, depending on the type of bread, before slicing and packaging.
Once the bread is packaged, it is placed on trucks and shipped out. "We want to get it to the customer as quickly as possible," said Schwebel.
The Schwebel commitment to innovation, quality and efficiency in its baking process translates into the freshest breads possible whether dining out or eating at home.
The following recipes from Schwebel's website offer a variety of ways to enjoy their delicious products.
APRICOT-APPLE STUFFING
4 cups soft Schwebel's Giant Enriched Bread, cubed and toasted
11/2 cups peeled, diced apples
1 cup chopped dried apricots
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
Combine all ingredients and use to stuff your favorite meat. We recommend serving this stuffing with Roasted Duck.
PARSLEY STUFFING
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped celery
6 cups Schwebel's Giant Enriched Bread, cubed and toasted
1 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 egg, beaten
Simmer onion in butter until tender. Combine with bread cubes and remaining ingredients. This stuffing is a savory addition to poultry, fish or meat.
DOUBLE DECKER PORK CHOPS
4 cups soft Schwebel's Giant Enriched Bread, cubed
11/2 cups diced Granny Smith apples
3/4 cup chopped cranberries
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
8 pork chops
Combine first six ingredients in a mixing bowl, set aside. Arrange four pork chops in an 8-inch square pan. Cover chops with stuffing mixture and top with remaining pork chops. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for one hour. Serves four.
HOT TOMATO-CHEESE SANDWICHES
2 tablespoons prepared horseradish
2 tablespoons chopped green pepper
1/4 cup chopped stuffed olives
11/2 cups hot cheese sauce
8 slices Schwebel's Giant Enriched Bread, toasted
8 tomato slices
3 tablespoons buttered bread crumbs
Combine horseradish, green peppers and olives with the cheese sauce. Arrange 4 slices of toast in a greased square baking pan. Pour 3/4 cup of cheese mixture over toast slices; top with four tomato slices and remaining toast. Pour the rest of the sauce over the sandwiches. Top with remaining tomato slices and sprinkle with buttered bread crumbs. Broil for 10 minutes. Serves four.
PIZZA BREAD
Using a slice of Schwebel's 'taliano bread, spread with sauce and cheese, place in toaster oven and serve piping hot. Feel free to add toppings, but don't go crazy. You don't want to overload the bread.
THE BLOWOUT
Build a sandwich using Schwebel's Giant White Bread, marshmallows and peanut butter. Micorwave for 30 seconds then top with chocolate syrup.
XMore recipes using Schwebel products can be found at www.schwebels.com/recipes.